Happy (almost) New Year to you, my friends!  We’ve made it through Christmas and Hanukkah and Yule and most of 2019 – I hope you’re getting a chance to relax and recuperate these last two days of the year.  I’m not – it’s the last final push to make it to the highest bonus threshold at work and I’m powering through two more days of billing.  No rest for the weary… I’m really looking forward to 2020.  It will still be busy, but at least there’s some breathing room ahead (maybe – I always say that, but it never seems to shake out).  Anyway – if you were celebrating last week, I hope it was magical!  The kids really enjoyed their Christmas.  The art cart above was the highlight of the morning – I spent hours planning it, constructing the cart (from IKEA), buying all the supplies and assembling everything, and I was crossing my fingers that Peanut would love it.  (After all that work and planning and shopping and love, if she’d turned up her nose at it I would have been devastated.)  Fortunately, she did love it, and has been enjoying pushing it around the house and giving everyone tours of each of the trays.  Any guesses which supply I’m going to have to replenish first?  My money’s on the jar of washi tape.  But both kids really loved their gifts, and so did Steve and I, when we got around to exchanging (which didn’t happen until after the two short insane people went to bed on Christmas night).  I got a pile of books, of course, and not one, not two, but three Emile Henry bread-baking pans (the bread cloche, baguette baker, and long covered baker) – so expect to see lots more adventures in bread-baking in 2020.

Reading.  An excellent last-full-week-of-the-year in books!  On Monday I cruised through Noel Streatfeild’s Christmas Stories over the course of my morning and afternoon commutes, then turned my attention to A Christmas Party – my first Georgette Heyer, if you can believe it.  I took a brief break from the Heyer to read A Country Doctor’s Commonplace Book on Christmas Day, which I’ve decided should be a tradition.  Finished up A Christmas Party on Saturday and – once again – guessed the killer.  I’m on a roll with these mystery novels!  After Christmas I was finally spent on the holiday reading, and picked up I Was A Stranger from my Slightly Foxed shelf.  It’s been on my TBR for ages and I can’t believe it took me so long to get to it – I’ve loved every moment and can’t put it down.  At press time I am about thirty pages from the end, and finding it very hard to discipline myself to do my work instead of hiding away with my book.  I’ll finish tonight and then – not sure what I’ll turn to next.  I’ve got a pile of new Christmas books (book haul post coming soon, but I’m not sure when) so maybe one of them.

Watching.  It’s been a Harry Potter bonanza around here lately.  The kids are really into the movies, and recently watched both Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire for the first time.  Prisoner is my favorite, but I wasn’t sure how the kids would react to the Dementors.  They were definitely scared of them and needed reassurance that they’re not real, but they seem to have powered through and Peanut is professing that Prisoner is her favorite, too.

Listening.  Not much, really.  I’ve been working remotely and not driving much, so my podcast minutes are down substantially.  I did listen a bit to some of the Slightly Awesome holiday episodes while driving to and from Target to run Christmas-related errands, but mostly I’ve just been enjoying quiet whenever I can snatch it.

Making.  A magical Christmas morning for my munchkins, which took a lot of work over the course of the week – lots of wrapping, tag-writing, organizing, and assembling.  And, when I had a spare minute, some goodies in the kitchen.  We had a Whole Foods catered dinner for Christmas Day, but I whipped up two batches of Molly Wizenberg’s herbed fingerling potatoes over the course of the week, and batches of husarenkrapferl (traditional Austrian thumbprint cookies) and vanillekiepferl (vanilla crescents, also a traditional Austrian Christmas cookie).  Oh, and (ducks) a batch of gluhwein, which I finished myself.

Blogging.  I have a poem for you on Wednesday, to start 2020 off on the right note.  And my December reading recap on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Loving.  Christmas with littles is often mayhem, which is fun in many ways, but this year I’ve been seeking out and soaking up moments of quiet, and making a point to notice them.  They’ve been very needed after a hectic year and some recent drama.  On Christmas Eve we went to the family service at our church, which is not known for being especially peaceful (but it is very cute) – but every so often a hush would descend amidst the din of dozens of children chattering, and it was kind of magical.  This is also the time of the year for taking stock, looking backward and forward, and setting goals and intentions – all some of my favorite things.  I have a lot of plans for 2020 – big and small.  These are the things on my mind during the rare quiet and contemplative moment.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?